TikTok owner ByteDance said it has sacked an intern for “maliciously interfering” with one of its artificial intelligence (AI) models.
According to BBC, the tech company also clarified that reports of significant damage to the firm “contain some exaggerations and inaccuracies.”
The company stated, “The individual was an intern with the (advertising) technology team and has no experience with the AI Lab. Their social media profile and some media reports contain inaccuracies.”
ByteDance further added that its commercial online operations, including large AI models, were not affected by the actions of the intern.
This came after the reports about the termination of the intern and damage circulated on social media over the weekend.
Moreover, TikTok's parent company also denied all the reports that the disruption of the AI training system made up of thousands of powerful graphics processing units (GPU) caused damage to more than $10 million.
The company announced that it had informed the university and industry bodies about the incident and termination of the intern.
To note, the Chinese company ByteDance is the owner of some popular social media apps, including TikTok and Douyin (a Chinese app similar to TikTok). Like many other companies, it is investing heavily in AI.
